Someone, or something, keeps changing my email and my youtube account passwords ERRRR. I can get them to let me change them and then log in, but then like literally 10 minutes later (or like hours later depending on when) it will be changed again and log me out and I have to change my password again. If it actually is someONE, then they are veryyy immature. But I'm starting to think about maybe if it's something to do with technology... idk....

errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Ok so Mack's barking issue is BAD. Our neighbors and my parents are getting really mad about it. Here's the situation... in the morning/afternoon, we keep Macker out in the yard for most of the time because if he's let inside before he gets enough exercise, he goes crazy in the house. Running and scratching our wood floors, grabbing whatever is at eye level, jumping on the counters, etc. (really reminds me of Marley from Marley and Me) But when its later in the day, he'll come in and after a few minutes calm down. Anyways, so up until a few days ago, he really didn't mind being outside. But now every morning after he wakes up he will bark, bark, bark and slam into the back door, springing in the air at like 7 a.m. Sucks for me because its my break and I can't even sleep in, and my mom is getting mad about it too. I'm already asking a lot of my parents to let me HAVE a dog, not to mention a hyper dog, and this situation is not helping.

I've never had a barker since Wrinkles would not bark to save his life. I ended up teaching him to bark to build more drive in agility, and so I don't know how to teach Mack to not do it...

I'm considering the citranella (sp?) bark collars that spray that lemon scent when they bark, but I'd really like to see if I can fix it a different way, plus those are expensive. Crating him just makes him bark more because it's all since he has too much energy. I run him in the morning when I get up, but I would love for that to be a little later than 7 so I can actually enjoy my break... but not happening.

Any ideas??

So 2 days ago, I worked with the border collie, Trixie. At the beginning of the session she had no idea what a front cross was, but by the end we were getting it! I did a lot of 180s and pinwheels with her in order to get her turning... She is now tight when I front cross, still wide when I rear cross so that will be something I will work on next. I was also working on cueing the tunnel. I did channel weaves just a few times but boy are my weaves a piece of crap haha. I really want real channel weaves with a base but they are just so expensive! I want them mainly for the monster that lives in my house that would just crush weaves that are stuck in the ground... Macker. haha.

Anyways, so in the first set up of jumps, she was taking that 180 with the front cross great, but she kept missing that last jump! Like soo many times. She did get it twice I think, but I tried so many things and she just didn't get it. When I would split the sequence up into parts, she would get that last jump, but not when it was altogether. I'M guessing its because she had too much momentum coming out of the 180 and doesn't have enough control to take a turn like that? What do you guys think?
Also, after she jumped over the jump and grabbed the tug toy in the air, I decided to keep it in my pocket lol. Better that way anyways for handling.
And she also kept making that 180 at the end very wide and missed the second jump of it a few times. I'm thinking I wasn't supporting it enough, any other ideas?

Those were our main issues that day, but it was just so much fun, especially now that we are starting to jump sequence =)

Here's the video. It is on private so if you can't view it let me know and I'll add you as a friend.

So today I was watching the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge on ESPN. There was a junior handler there with her border collie Pistol, the dog she got a few years after starting agility with her "family lab" in order to be competitive in the sport. I'm guessing she is about 15 or 16, her dog won the 60 weave pole challenge... not sure if they competed in agility, I turned it on too late. Anyways, they showed this whole story thing of how her little brother does frisbee with their aussie and they support each other and their parents are proud, etc.

It made me really think... I turned 17 this past October and I will only be a junior for one more year. Where have I gone? What have I accomplished? Honestly, a big part of me wants to sit down in tears and think... nothing. I HAD a dog that had the potential to get a MACh and/or NATCh before my 18th birthday. I HAD a dog that was halfway to qualifying for AKC nationals. I HAD a dog that qualifed for NADAC Champs and we could have possibly gone this past September. I HAD a dog that I worked my butt off with to be somewhere with me and accomplish great things before I was 18, yet he's gone because of stupid freakin cancer.

I always thought that if I wanted to be a trainer in the future, I need something to prove myself. That girl on Purina has something to prove herself to other people. Yet I basically have no competing dogs right now, nothing to make people stop and think 'wow, she accomplished great things and I want to train with her'. It's really, really tough to think about.

But then I think about where Wrinkles was 2-3 years ago. He was an overweight dog being overtime in NADAC Open courses. He had 9 second weaves, he walked through tunnels, he barely made it over 16" jumps because of his speed. On top of it, my parents refused to take me to trials and if I did go, I paid for them (still do pay for them). I begged and cried for every day that I got to compete. Where he was less than 1 year ago? Making time in Elite regular, running over 5 yps in 100 degree weather, QQing and picking up points, and wagging his tail before and after every run knowing that he was going to have fun.

In a way, it's hard to think about why things happened the way they did. From the day I brought Wrinkles home as a 10 week old puppy, we had this unbreakable bond. I worked sooo hard to build drive in a "driveless" dog, get a naturally overweight and slow dog into shape, show people that rescues can be great agility dogs too... why did it have to end right when everything was going great? My parents finallyy gave in to the fact that its something I love and let me compete at least once a month, we finally were making time and having time to spare, Qing 80% of the time. And honestly, I don't know why it was taken away from me.

But I do know that I need to stop thinking about what I wished to have accomplished or what I haven't accomplished. Instead, I need to think about how yea, I've never been to Nationals and yea, I dont really having a competitive dog right now, but I do have a lot I could prove in the future. I do have a ton of lessons that I learned from the amazing Wrinkles and my knowledge of anything training related is just a million times more. 

Now it's time to take that somewhere. It may not be while I'm still a junior handler, but I do have a few things going for me for the future... 

Just thought I would share one of my favorite trial videos... This was in the middle of a desert-ish setting, 102 degrees out. This trial basically showed off the things we were never able to accomplish... Q in Elite Jumpers (have to be going at least 5 yps), Q in Elite Chances (distance with a dog that would only run next to me) and Q in two rounds of Elite Regular with multiple tunnels and weaves. It wasn't his fastest trial because of the heat, but he still made time!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!! Here is Macker with one of his Christmas presents =)



So first off, I was wondering... Macker is a very big barker. If we leave him in the yard and don't let him in, he jumps against the sliding glass door and barks and barks and barks (of course we don't let him in for that behavior and wait until he is being good). Also, if inside the house he is in his crate (which he willingly runs into) he will whine and bark for awhile until he realizes he is being ignored and will stop. Understandibly, if he's in the crate watching another dog do agility or on leash watching a dog run, he'll bark like crazy, but I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what to do, mainly about barking at the door and in the crate. It is all obviously for attention, but other than ignoring it and rewarding him when he is quiet, I don't know what to do. I was considering getting a bark collar that sprays that lemon scent on them when they bark, but if there is another way to fix it, I would much much rather do that. Any thoughts, opinions on this and/or the bark collar??

About a week ago they opened a dog bark right up the street from us, just less than a mile. I am super excited because that means Mack can just run around the fenced area and burn his energy out with other dogs haha. I walked him and the dog we are petsitting, Aussie-Jonah, up there the past few mornings. Soo nice not having school and just waking up to a late morning walk with the dogs =) Here are some pictures...
Oh and of course on the way home, Macker decides to pick up a dead rabbit that had been laying on the side of the road for weeks and is basically a flat, gross thing, in his mouth! I had to OPEN his mouth with my hands to get him to drop it. Poor Jonah is just standing there staring at us, wondering what is going on. He is a very well-behaved dog. A perfect dog to petsit.






my personal favorite! lol


Jonah!










The wonderful thing Macker picked up...


And how far he dragged it... lovely

So a few weeks ago I started training my youth pastor's wife's friend's dog (hahaha). She is an almost 3 year old black and white border collie named Trixie. I'm training her from scratch, teaching her how to tug and play with ME, not just the ball or frisbee being thrown a distance. After about a month (?), I'm starting sequencing with her. I took her to the park yesterday and got some videos that I would like to share, but after the first video I posted on youtube with her, the reaction of the other juniors online makes me not want to post videos of her anymore. A few of them think I shouldn't train a border collie and am a hypocrite for doing so as well as I'm going to f*** her up... sooo I would love some MATURE, training advice though- so I was wondering if any of you guys who wanted to watch videos of her if you could send me your youtube accounts and I can add you as friends and put it on private for you to see... I would really appreciate some advice from experienced trainers.

Some of the things I've been working on with her: She is just starting to learn my body language, so rear crosses and front crosses. Also, taking what is in front of her (she is still going around jumps that are right there). Working on channel weaves, she is really loving them. I can tell she is going to be a wide dog so I need to work on tighter turns, etc.

So the last trial I had was Nov. 28-29 with the Springer, Posey, that I train. We were suppose to run this next weekend, but she has conformation stuff... so no trials until ... January?? I don't really know yet. She's close to her Championship and once she gets that, then I'll kind of have more priority with her. I just can't wait until I'm competing regularyly again... I love the training that comes before competing, but I was expecting to have Posey to run whenever I wanted, but right now she has other stuff to do.

Yesterday I did end up going to the field. Macker had some fun. He's learning the aframe (low height of course) and I'm really contemplating a running aframe with him...

Woo so two week of no school :D I am super excited... and definitely some much needed time for some macker training haha. maybe agility field tomorrow? we'll see if i have a car...

btw our clean run stuff came in and he really loves the tug stick.

i took him to the park today to run, and luckily there was no one there at the beginning. He was doing really nice sit, stays partway across the field, then i would release him and just start sprinting and he lovess to chase me. Before, he would tackle me when he reached me, but at least now he just runs by me showing off how his speed at a jog is my full sprint lol. Of course when someone else got there with their dog I was invisible and he had to go say hi.. leash went back on. Oh well, there is improvement...

The definition for Macker is a big powerful wave so I want to do something along those lines for his registered name. What do you think of these?

Choices so far:
Helen's Wave Wipeout
Helen's Power of the Wave
Helen's Breakin' the Wave

any other ideas?